Losing It
by Kemnam
Summary: After an inciden't in the woods, the scoence club seems to be fine... except for Lucas. He's getting cranky, and having hallucinations. And... is he foaming at the mouth?
1. Encounter in the Woods

Disclaimer: I do... Oh for pete's sake. I don't own anything but the clothes on my back and my bed! I dodn't like putting that every single chapter1 Just keep that in mind that none of this was my idea!

Ok, so new story. If you got the little summary that I typed up, then you will probably already have guessed what happens. I'm not going to say it if you didn't. I like reviews, so please say stuff.

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"Professor Z, where are we going?" Vaughn called ahead of the group.

The science club was walking through the woods, their professor, wearing a brown coat lead them along a barley visible path. There was a mist hanging in the trees, and everybody could see their breath come out in white puffs in front of them. Professor Z looked over his shoulder and smiled. But didn't say a word. The students and teacher continued to walk through the woods until Z stopped in front of a low hanging branch.

"Everyone gather around, but be quiet." Z whispered.

The other students gathered on either side of Z and examined the branch. Balanced delicately on the branch was a small nest. Inside the nest delicately lay three eggs. The soft shells were off white and speckled brown. They were glowing eerily in the twilight. Everybody gazed at them, their innocence casting them in a respectful silence.

"Wait, where's the mother?" Corrine asked.

"Good, question. The mother of these eggs would usually be sitting on them to keep them warm."

"Maybe she went to get something to eat." Josie breathed.

"That's the thing." Z said. "I've been monitoring these eggs for a while, and there have been no signs of nurture from the mother"

Everybody was silent. Suddenly Vaughn reached out, and before anybody could say anything, touched the eggs with surprisingly delicate fingers. His fingertips lightly caressed the shells.

"They're still warm." He said, taking his hand away.

"I've been keeping them warm." Z said. "I don't think the mother is coming back."

"You mean she's…?" Corrine didn't have to finish the question.

"Possibly, but it isn't unknown for mother birds to abandon their nest when in the presence of danger."

"We should take care of them." Josie said.

"That's what I was thinking, and that's why I brought this."

Professor Z pulled a padded box out of his coat. Very carefully, the science club extracted the eggs from the nest and put them in the padded box. When they were all stowed away, the science club looked at each other with smiles.

"Ummm… guys." Lucas said. His voice was shaking. "I think I know why the mother bird left the nest."

Everybody turned to where Lucas was looking. Through the mist, up on a nearby small hill, a scraggly gray fox was watching them. It's orange eyes were glowing in the twilight. The fox just watched them, but he hung his head low, and crouched down on the ground.

"It's just a fox, he can't cause any real harm." Josie said.

"On the contrary, Josie. Fox's can take fingers. But…something's wrong." Marshall said, peering through the mist.

"What makes you say that?" Corrine asked.

"Because fox's won't normally approach humans," Lucas replied. "And they're nocturnal."

The fox took a tentative step towards them, coming out of the mist a little. Lucas could just barely see the pockets of bubbled saliva on the side of the fox's mouth.

"We've got to get away." Lucas said. He turned and ran. "Now!"

Everybody raced away from the fox. But they could hear the snarling and the sound of paw steps behind them. Lucas, who was the slowest runner, fell behind the others. Lucas screamed out as the fox jumped on his back, knocking over face first. The fox sank it's teeth into his shoulder, and Lucas screamed again. The fox twisted its head, and a few blood spots landed on the ground in front of Lucas. Lucas stared at the blood. The fox let go for a second and bit down again, and again, and again. Lucas' shoulder had become numb with the pain.

Suddenly, the pressure in his shoulder was yanked off of him, and Lucas looked up to see Vaughn battling the fox in front of him. The fox sank it's teeth into Vaughn's arm, and all Vaughn did was grunt and toss his arm and the fox against the nearest tree. The fox's back connected to the tree with a snap and the fox fell limp off of Vaughn's arm.

"Lucas, get up!" Vaughn said coming over to him.

Lucas tried to get his hands beneath him, but found he was having a lot of trouble using his right arm. Vaughn grabbed him by his unhurt shoulder and lifted him up off the ground. Lucas' coat got in the way of how much damage the fox had done. Running through the woods, Vaughn practically dragging Lucas, the two made their way back to the others in which they raced back to the school. Lucas' knee's collapsed when they got to the science room. It had become instinctual to go there whenever there was something wrong.

"Lucas, Vaughn, are you okay?" Marshall asked.

"I'm fine." Vaughn said holding up his arm to show the few puncture wounds he had received. "But Lucas is hurt pretty bad."

They helped the boy up onto a chair, and very carefully removed Lucas' coat. Immediately, fresh blood blossomed on his uniform shirt. They removed his shirt, and everybody grimaced at the mess the fox had left. His shoulder was chewed up pretty bad, and the teeth marks went deep. The skin was twisted and loose, some torn in shreds hanging off his body. Lucas looked away from it. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"We need to clean the wound, and keep pressure on it." Corrine said, her medical lessons from her father coming into play. "And rinse it with an antibiotic."

Nobody said a word as Josie went to the cabinet and got a bottle of hydrogen peroxide out. Marshall went over to the nearest sink, wetted a paper towel and threw a rag to Vaughn, who pressed it against Lucas shoulder. Lucas gasped. "Not so hard."

Once the wound was clean of blood, they leaned Lucas over one of the science lab sinks and poured the hydrogen peroxide over the punctures in his skin. They did the same with Vaughn's arm. The wound was inflaminated and red. But it was at least clean, and the bleeding had stopped. But, once when they weren't looking, little purple sparks of electricity zapped in each one of the bite marks on Lucas' skin.

"It doesn't hurt as bad anymore." Lucas said, sighing and looking up gratefully at his friends. Bu winced when he raised his arm the put his shirt on. They bandaged it and put his arm in a sling. Lucas assumed that maybe one of the muscles might have been torn.

Lucas put his shirt back on, but paused. The shirt still had a lot of his blood on it. Lucas shrugged and zipped up his coat over this, which was only shredded at the shoulder.

"It's strange that a fox would just come and attack you. Usually they're very wary around humans, and they spend most of their active time at night." Professor Z said.

"Maybe it had an attraction towards Lucas." Josie said. There were a few snickers.

"I think we should look into this and see if we can come up with any reasons. See if there might be any dangers or risks."

"Risks?" Lucas paled.

The science club was silent for a while, taking in that word.

"I can probably get my father to come and look at that. He's not only a brain doctor, he's also a Ph.D. medic."

"That would be excellent, Corrine." Professor Z said. "Professional help would be excellent."

"Professor Z," Vaughn exclaimed. "Did you get the eggs?"

Z reached into his coat and pulled out the padded box. When he opened it, the eggs lay there huddled together, undisturbed by the commotion. They put the eggs in the incubator and as soon as they were in there, they seemed to glow with an inner light.

Just then the bell rang for the second course of classes to begin. Everybody jumped.

"Alright, I guess we'll see what the result is in maybe a couple of weeks. Eggs don't hatch over night, you know. Lucas, I would suggest changing your shirt." Professor Z said. As they all left the room. It had seemed that the events of this morning had been forgotten.

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A/N: Oooohh... I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what I'm talking about. And I think I jumped into the action and problem too fast. I looked this up on the internet, and found a good website that gave me what i needed. I hope I play by the rules.


	2. Dreams and Swings

Alright, so a bit of sickness and mood swing for Lucas. I think I particulalry like this chapter, becuase I like it when bad things happen to the characters I like. It's some psycho thing I have with people. I thinks it's because when things happen to them, it makes them seem really vulnerable. What ever, just read.

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Lucas was not sleeping good that night. His bite hurt and itched and it felt like his head was on fire. In his dreams, Lucas kept seeing the fox's eyes, boring into him. As vivid as if he was looking directly into them, the red eyes had a mad furiousness in them. The fox's face was snarling and snapping at him. But, very slowly, the fox began to take on a human face. Soon, A gray skinned, red-eyed Vaughn was growling and barking in Lucas' face. There was someone behind him, cowering in the shadow of Vaughn. It was Josie. Josie looked up into Lucas' eyes and he saw pure horror in her eyes.

"Lucas!" She shrieked. "Help me!"

Vaughn turned and looked at her, then slowly turned his head to look at Lucas. A cruel smile played on his lips. Then, Vaughn turned and sprung at Josie. She screamed in terror.

"Josie!" Lucas yelled sitting bolt up right. The room was dark, or at least it was until Marshall flipped on the light.

"Lucas, what's wrong?" Marshall asked all bleary eyed.

"Josie... Vaughn... fox!" Lucas gasped.

"Lucas calm down, it was just a bad dream."

Lucas doubted that. Josie's cry was still echoing in his ears. Lucas leaned back and stared at the ceiling, his breathing got steadier, and soon, everything seemed to be focused again.

"I just need some water." Lucas got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Walking over to the sink, Lucas splashed his face in the water. But accidentally forgot to take off his glasses. "Oh, great." Lucas took off his glasses and cleaned them with a towel. The he rubbed the towel over his face, getting the water on his skin. When he took the towel down from his face, Marshall heard a scream and a crash.

Marshall threw back the covers and raced to the bathroom. Lucas was cowering against the wall and the mirror was cracked. Lucas was whimpering.

"Lucas!" Marshall cried. "What happened?"

Marshall ran by Lucas' side. Lucas pointed at the mirror. "Fox! Fox!"

Marshall hung his head and grabbed Lucas by the arm.

"Lucas don't worry, there's no fox in the mirror." Marshall pulled Lucas to his feet and dragged him in front of the mirror. Lucas stared at the mirror dumbly. The large crack in the glass split his face in half.

"Oh." Lucas was confused, Marshall could tell.

"Let's just go to bed, okay buddy?"

"Yeah... that sounds nice."

Once they turned out the light, it was silent for a few seconds, then Marshall heard the sound of Lucas' deep breathing. _That was fast._



Science the next morning seemed to go by in a blur for Lucas. The words pouring out of Professor Z's mouth didn't make any sense. When the bell rang, Lucas sat bolt upright in his seat. He looked around and down at his blank note book. Lucas sighed. Marshall came and stood next to him.

"Do you think we should tell the others about what happened last night?" Marshall asked.

"No. I don't think it was such a big deal. It was probably just trauma from the fox attack." Lucas said grabbing his things and standing up. "Besides. I don't want them to worry."

"Your eyes have really dark circles under them. Are you sure you're okay?" Marshall asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just really tired. Come on, let's go to lunch."

Joining up with the others, everybody made their way to the lunchroom.

"Lucas, are you okay? You look a little pale." Corrine said.

"Lucas always looks pale." Josie stated.

"I'm fine, Corrine. I just didn't get enough sleep last night."

"How's your shoulder?" Vaughn asked. Lucas glared at him for a few seconds. Then his gaze softened a little.

A little.

"It's fine, how's your arm?"

"Fine."

When they all had their food, they sat down outside and enjoyed the clear day. The mist from last night had cleared and the sun was out and shining. The friends joked and teased each other and it seemed as if the events of yester day had been forgotten.

That night, after Lucas had taken a shower, He was about to wrap up his shoulder and go to bed when walking by the mirror, Lucas saw something on his back. Lucas paused in front of the foggy mirror and wiped away the residue with his hand. But Lucas could just barely see what was on his back.

"Hey Marshall." Lucas called wrapping a towel around his waste.

"No, I'm not getting your clothes for you." Marshall's voice said from the other room.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I need you to come check something out for me."

Lucas heard Marshall sigh and get up. He was standing in the doorway a second later. "What?"

"Is there some thing on my back?" Lucas said turning around pointing at his right shoulder blade.

"No, I don't see-" Marshall stopped short. "Wait a second."

Lucas felt Marshall's fingers touch his skin. "You got a… black lump right here."

"A what?" Lucas looked over his shoulder at Marshall. He felt his fingers moving over a definite lump in Lucas' back.

"It feels like there's something solid under there." Marshall said pressing a little.

"What, you mean like a tumor?"

"No, more solid than that." Marshall lifted his fingers away. "I don't want to touch it. You can have Dr. Baxter look at that when he gets here."

Lucas wrapped his shoulder carefully, and put his shirt on. He was a little hesitant to go to bed, but eventually fell asleep.

Marshall had been dreaming about a certain friend of his when he was shaken roughly by the shoulder. Marshall half opened his eyes and was expecting to see Lucas telling him to wake up for school. But instead, what he got was an dark, angry Lucas glaring at him, his nose no less than an inch away from his own. Marshall jumped back from Lucas. Confused, Marshall looked his friends over and gulped. He looked really cranky.

"What's up?"

"Marshall, you snore. Really loudly. I've never told you before because I'm your friend. But now, it's getting on my nerves." Lucas crossed his arms. "Might I suggest sleeping with your mouth closed? Or maybe some sort of nose drops?" Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, all I'm trying to say is that I've been wearing ear plugs for the last few months, but I lost them sometime last week, and I can't get to sleep. So, could you keep it down?"

Marshall was absolutely stunned. He was staring with his mouth open at Lucas. When Lucas looked up at him with dark eyes, Marshall nodded quickly. Lucas sighed and turned out the light. Marshall heard him get into bed and try to sleep. Marshall stared off into the darkness.

During school the next morning, Lucas had deep pits under his eyes. But he seemed fine, by the way he was acting. He was laughing and smiling and partaking in school. Which was strange for someone who was sleep deprived. The whites of his eyes were red, and his skin was a little pale. During one of the moments Lucas was gone, Marshall told everybody about what had happened last night, and the night before.

"Vaughn, did anything happen to you?" Corrine asked him. "You were bitten, too."

"Nope. I slept all through both nights." Vaughn held up his bandaged arm.

"Guy's he's coming back." Josie said. Everybody turned and looked at Lucas, his head was hug and he had a scowl on his face. His eyes were dark.

"Hey, Lucas." Corrine said. Lucas didn't as much as look at her as he walked by.

"Hey, Lucas, Are you okay?" Josie asked stepping out to grab his arm.

Lucas jerked his head at her and widened is eyes. What sounded like a growl escaped his throat. Josie could feel the muscles in his arm rippling under her skin. Immediately, she let him go and backed away from him. Everybody stared at Lucas with their mouths hanging open. Lucas darted his eyes around the group, blinked, rubbed his eyes and then looked back up at them, a confused look on his face.

"What's everybody staring at me for?"

Just then the bell rang. Lucas looked around confused.

"What class are we going to?" He asked.

"Lunch." Marshall said, scanning Lucas.

"Alright." Lucas broke out into a huge grin. "I love lunch. But I don't think I'm hungry. I might go the study room and catch up on homework."

Lucas waved and said bye and headed towards the study room.

Everybody stared after him.

"Corrine, I hope your dad get's here soon."

Lucas practically ran to the study room. He checked to make sure nobody was there, and slammed the door shut. Sinking down onto one of the couches, Lucas could feel his heart racing and his head throbbing. That was the second time he had blacked out all of a sudden and came back some place else. The first was when he had spaced out during science class and woke up with Professor Z asking him if he could have his hand back. Lucas had been gripping it really hard, and Professor Z's voice was strangled.

"You're cutting off my circulation." He said.

Lucas let go. "I'm sorry Z. I wasn't paying attention. I don't know how that happened."

"Are you okay, Lucas? You look sick."

_I might be._ Lucas thought now. Lucas stuck his hand under his shirt and touched his wound. It had been itching all day, and sometimes he could feel the skin around the teeth marks twitch violently. There were a few times that when Lucas looked at his arm or down through his shirt, he could see the skin rippling, like there were worms moving under his skin. The same thing was happening to his right arm right now. Lucas watched the weird muscle convulsion, and then put his hand on it. With difficulty, Lucas swallowed. He hoped Corrine's dad would get here faster.

Lucas yawned. God, he was tired. Everything went blurry as Lucas' eyes drooped. Maybe… he could just take a short nap and depend on the bell to wake him up. Lucas laid down on the couch, and it didn't take long for him to fall into a very thick, black sleep.

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A/N: So... things are getting epic. Going to be action next chapter, possibly. Can anybody guess how it's going to end?


	3. The Black Spot

Al right, so if you've figured it out already, then the stuff in this chapter won't be surprising. But then again, I've been doing my research, and I was surprised by some of the things I read about.

Reviews and comments appreciated so... yeah.

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A black car drove up to the front of Blake Holsey High preparatory school, and a dark skinned man stepped out. Wearing a high necked coat to shield him from the wind, He walked the steps up into the school and looked around. If he could remember correctly, Corrine's room was on the second floor…

"Hello, can I help you?" A voice said behind him. The man turned around. "Oh, Dr. Baxter. Why are you here? Is Corrine alright?"

"I'm pretty sure Corrine is fine, but she said that someone else wasn't." Dr. Baxter. Corrine's dad said. In truth, Corrine hadn't really told him much about what the situation was, only that they needed him, and that someone was sick.

Principal Durst paled. "There's a hurt student in the school?"

"Not really something I think we should worry about. Do you know where Corrine is?"

"She should be at Lunch right now." Durst said, pointing to the lunch room. Dr. Baxter bowed his head and hurried off in the direction she indicated. It's not that Dr. Baxter didn't like Principal Durst, he just thought she worried too much.

Walking into the lunch room, Dr. Baxter scanned the student's for his daughters face. Corrine found him before he found her.

"Dad!" He heard her voice. Dr. Baxter spun around and gave his daughter a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here." She said into his chest.

"Wait, I don't even know why I'm here, pumkin." He said.

"We really need you. One of our friends is hurt, and he's been acting strange." Corrine explained looking up into his eyes.

"Please Dr. Baxter. It will help me sleep easy at night." Dr. Baxter looked up at Marshall. "Literally."

"Show me where he is."

The science club went up to the study room and burst the door open. Lucas was lying on the couch. The muscles in his arms and neck, and probably all over his body were rippling, like snakes were moving under his skin. His forehead was wet, and he was drooling on the couch. Dr. Baxter walked over to him, through his eyes, he was already having a hundred diagnosis' going through his head. But one really stuck out at him. Dr. Baxter put a cool hand on the boy's shoulder. "Lucas, wake up."

Very slowly, Lucas opened his eyes. He turned his head and looked up at the man. His eyes were unfocused.

"What happened?" Dr. Baxter asked.

The science club recalled the events in the woods on that day. When they were finished, Dr. Baxter nodded. He didn't even have to think.

"You guys should have gotten medical help immediately." He said standing up to look at them. "Lucas has rabies."

All of them gasped. Sudden realization dawned on all of them, then overwhelming stupidity. Why hadn't they thought of that? It was so obvious now, they all felt stupid and dumbfounded about not being able to piece it together themselves.

"I … could have told you that." Lucas said in a blurry voice. He tried to sit up, but failed, Dr. Baxter helped him up and felt his shoulder. "Is that where he got bitten?"

"Yep. And Vaughn got bitten on the arm." Marshall said. Vaughn held up his bandaged arm.

"Yet, you seem fine." Dr. Baxter eyed him curiously.

"You know Vaughn… He always has to be special." Lucas got up when he said that, and the way he walked and almost fell over, it was like he was drunk. Dr. Baxter caught him and picked him up. "Hey… why are all these colorful bubbles everywhere?"

Everybody looked at each other. "Let's get him to the science room."

They rushed Lucas out of the room as fast as he would go, but he kept falling over and laughing. Other times she would stare at something going past, try to reach out and grab it, and then fall again. In the end, Dr. Baxter swept him off his feet and carried him the rest of the way.

Lucas, who was having the time of his life, kept staring at the pretty bubbles that floated out of the wall and would pop with a bunch of sprinkles and glitter falling out of them. Lucas hung his head back and laughed.

When everybody burst into the science room, Professor Z was caught completely off guard. When they laid a laughing, Bleary eyed Lucas down on the table, Z had not idea what was happening.

"Dr. Baxter, Corrine's dad." said the dark man, shaking his hand. "I think we've met before."

"Yes, yes. I'm so glad you're here." He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Lucas. He looked like he was having trouble breathing and little white bubbles were forming at the corners of his mouth. "What's wrong with him?"

"He has rabies." Dr. Baxter said. The same dumbfounded realization hit Professor Z like a bowling ball.

"But things like rabies, which attacks your nervous system, need incubation time, right? It takes at least one or two weeks before it actually starts to take affect."

"I was thinking that, too. Usually, the closer to the head the infection is, the shorter the incubation time. But on the shoulder, it would take five to six days before the symptoms kick in. You cleaned the area, right? I thought so. I need to see the infection area." Dr. Baxter said.

Very carefully, they removed the boy's shirt and the bandages around his shoulder. Little scars were all that remained of the bite marks on the front of his body. But turning him over, which was difficult with Lucas' protest, Dr. Baxter was shocked to see the little black lump on his back. The skin around the black was green.

"That was there last night, but it wasn't that bad." Marshall said.

"I need to make an incision." Dr. Baxter said in a shaky voice.

Professor Z pulled a scalpel from his desk and handed it to the doctor. With the caution and precision that only comes with Experience, Dr. Baxter pierced Lucas skin right on the black spot. Lucas tried to look over his shoulder at the man. "Hey... what're you doin?"

Dr. Baxter ignored him and continued to cut. But it didn't take long before everyone in the room heard the scalpel hit something hard under Lucas skin.

"Wait, do you all hear that?" He said. The room was dead silent as Dr. Baxter moved the scalpel back and forth, making a sickening scraping sound.

"Do you have any tweezers of any kind?"

Professor Z provided those as well. Digging deep, Dr. Baxter extracted something that almost made everybody throw up.

"Aw, that is nasty." Vaughn and Marshall said at the same time.

Clamped tightly between the tweezers was a pale moldy-green tooth. A large canine tooth with a huge chip in the side. Dr. Baxter held the tooth up for everyone to see.

"This... could have been the cause of the short incubation period." Dr. Baxter put the tooth on a dish. "I need to clean out the area, or else the infection will continue to increase."

Provided with a sponge and a suction tube, Dr. Baxter got to work.

"Professor Z, where do you get all this stuff?" Vaughn asked.

"The school budget buys all kinds of things."

Dr. Baxter continued to sponge the area, and he hardly noticed as Lucas stiffened. Dr. Baxter inserted the suction tube and everybody winced as green slime sucked up the tube.

Suddenly, Lucas' breathing got harder, and Dr. Baxter pulled the suction tube away in surprise. But when he moved his hand away, he knocked the water over, and it spilled all over Lucas' back. Lucas' jumped up screaming. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were wild. He slammed himself against the wall and looked around at everybody with crazy eyes. Everybody saw his throat contract and has Adam's apple bob up and down, like he was having trouble swallowing. Soon, saliva started bubbling at the corners of his mouth.

Lucas turned tail and ran out the door and into the hallway. They heard a couple of girls passing by squeal.

"Dr. what just happened?" Marshall asked.

Dr. Baxter sighed. I was afraid of this. In some cases of rabies, the victim develops cases of aquaphobia and anemaphobia. Fear of water and air drafts. But it didn't seem like he was showing any symptoms."

"Uh, Doctor, shouldn't we be worrying about him running loose around the school?" Josie asked.

"I wouldn't. Sooner, or later he'll calm down and settle down somewhere, but it would be best if you go find him."

The students left the room.

"Um, Professor Zachary. Can I have a word?"

Lucas was panting and sweating. Get somewhere safe was echoing through his head, there was only one place that came to mind.

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A/N: Le gasp! Where is he going? do you think you know? maybe you don't next chapter may be the last, I don't know. Yeah, review and comment.


	4. Not much we can do

OMG!!! It's been so long!! Sorry for those of you that were waiting for this. Bu sad to say, this sis still not the end. You know, school, then summer then the mission trip to the bahamas... it keeps you busy. So enjoy!!

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Professor Z and Dr. Baxter walked to a classroom that was closed for the day. They only turned on the light on the desk, making deep shadows over their features. It had gotten dark out side, and that didn't help the fact that he thought Dr. Baxter had something bad to tell him. The look on the mans face was grim.

"Professor Zachary, usually after the symptoms of rabies kicks in… I just don't know how to put this lightly."

"Then lay done to me straight." Professor Z was trying to be tough.

"…Alright. Usually, after the symptoms of rabies kicks in, there's really nothing that can be done. The virus has to be isolated and taken care of before the incubation period is complete. After that, the result is usually always never good. If he got help like on the day, or this morning, the he might have had a chance. But the virus has spread so far, that I'm not sure if he can be helped. What I'm saying is that even if your student's did find him, there's nothing much that can be done."

Professor Z felt the blood drain from his face. "You mean… he's going to…?"

"There's a great possibility. During one of these cases I would go into a emergency procedure of a blood transference with somebody who's already had the virus. Their white blood cells and immunities would be stronger and could possibly over come the virus. But…" Once again, that sad look crossed over the man's face. "Even if we did manage to find somebody that would do it, and the virus was cured, he might still receive some serious permanent side affects that could have him in rehab for the rest of his life."

Professor Z felt his chest tighten. No… Lucas was so young.

Both the men turned when they heard a knock at the door. Vaughn was standing there. He also had a grim look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I passed by a couple minutes ago, when you were talking about… but, I'm not sure if this is true, since nobody ever told me and I was young. But when I was seven, I was bitten by a dog, and I think it had rabies. I might have the strong immunities that you're talking about, Doctor. I could do the blood transfusion."

Dr. Baxter looked at Vaughn, and realization crossed over his features.

"That would explain why you weren't contracting any symptoms!" Then his face darkened. "Why didn't you tell me this before? We could have done it before things got this bad."

"Doctor, don't get angry at Vaughn, there's no way he could have known." Professor Z said.

"Well, it's best if I collect a little blood now, so that I can get started right away." Vaughn rolled up his sleeve.

Then Professor Z turned to Vaughn. "Heighten the search then, and be quick. Look in his room, look in the kitchen, look everywhere. We must find him."

Lucky for everybody, Lucas had gotten lost in the school, and it was only until he reached the front door of the school that Josie spotted him and called out to everybody else. Vaughn, Marshall, and Corrine all started towards him, and it was then that Lucas decided to run. A freezing rain was coming down outside, and the heat of Lucas' body made him steam.

Vaughn, being the fastest of all of them, leapt off the front steps of the school and tackled Lucas to the ground. Lucas started snarling and throwing his body around in the mud. Vaughn put his arm around Lucas' neck and brought him up to his knees. Lucas bite down on Vaughn's arm and broke through the skin with his teeth. Vaughn yelled but held his grip, so did Lucas. Lucas kicked his legs out and Marshall and Josie were there to grab his legs. They all carried him inside and held him down on the floor. Dr. Baxter came running up to them with a needle filled with clear liquid. He tapped it a couple times then inserted it into the crook of Lucas arm. Then he took another needle out of his pocket filed with a red liquid. He did the same procedure with this one, and very slowly Lucas started to calm down.

Pretty soon, Lucas was lying there not moving but with his eyes partly closed. Both he and Vaughn were covered in mud. Lucas was shivering a little.

"Vaughn we don't have much time. We need to go." Dr. Baxter said.

Dr. Baxter grabbed Lucas and he and Vaughn sprinted out the door into the night.

Every body was waiting in the science room. Corrine had suggested that they all go to bed, but all of them knew they weren't going to sleep. The only sound in the room was the clock ticking and the slight noise that you hear of your blood pulsing when it's dead quiet.

It was about a quarter till midnight when Professor Z and Vaughn came back. Everybody got up at once. Vaughn looked really tired and a little more pale than usual. Z looked about the same.

"Well, how is he?"

"He's in the intensive care unit. Vaughn donated two quarts of blood." Professor Z put a hand on Vaughn shoulder.

"My dad's not going to be happy about that." Vaughn looked at his feet.

"Other than that, they don't know. He's not going to die, but there is a strong possibility that when Lucas gets back, some of his motor functions will have left him. Small things, like making a fist and that kind of stuff."

Everybody let that sink in. Nobody said anything for a long time.

"Everybody go to bed. It's late. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on what's going on."

Without a word, everybody left and went to their dorms. That night, Marshall was never lonelier than any other time in his life.

Vaughn was feeling very light headed. He thought he was going to pass out from all the blood he had donated. Lucky for Lucas, Vaughn's blood type was O+, the universal donor of the world. But what Vaughn didn't know was that his blood count was continuously reviving itself because of his futurized blood. But not having all the genes required, it wasn't doing it quite as fast. That night, Vaughn went to sleep faster and lighter than he ever had in his life.

* * *

That night in the ICU, Lucas' breathing got slower and slower, and his heart beat was getting lower and lower. A couple of nurses and doctors were standing there watching him, with the depressing knowledge that there was nothing they could do. Rabies was 100% fatal when the symptoms kick in. Ever since that first hallucination that Lucas saw that fox in he mirror, he was already dying. Lucas had three IV's of Vaughn donated blood connected to his wrist and one ankle. The new blood was fighting back, killing the already lethal virus. But it might not make it in time. All of them new that.

So when the long continuous beep on the heart rate machine finally filled the silence, one nurse hung her head. She turned and started out the door.

"I'll get the death certificate." She said in a sad, monotone voice.

The other nurse and one of the doctors left as well, but the darker one stayed, looking at the body. Dr. Baxter was thinking of what he should tell Corrine and her friends. They were too late? There was noting that they could do? No…he shook his head. This lost life was too young, there was nothing to say. Dr. Baxter took one last look at the body and turned to leave. Then he froze.

Lucas' eyes were still moving under his eyelids. REM: Rapid Eye Movement. Dr. Baxter got closer. Yes, his eyes were certainly moving. The beep of the monitor still showed he didn't have a heart rate. That only meant…

"We need help in here!" Dr. Baxter yelled. He ran over to the wall where the difribulator was and turned it on. A couple other doctors came in the room, one of them was the same doctor that had been standing there with him a moment before.

"Cardiac arrest?" a nurse asked.

"Charge me up, 100 volts." Dr. Baxter rubbed the two pads together and pressed them against the boys chest. "Clear."

Lucas' back arched with the charge.

* * *

Inside Lucas' sub consciousness, everything was dark and angry. He was floating in the black, his hair and limbs going about as if he was in water. His body was bare.

"Lucas, get up!" Vaughn's voice said faintly.

Lucas' eyes opened slowly.

"Lucas, are you all right?" Josie said, her voice a little bit louder.

Lucas tilted his head up.

"Lucas, where are you?" Corrine said now.

He started swimming. A purple shock or electricity went over him, making him stronger.

"Lucas, hang in there." Marshall's voice surrounded him.

The light above Lucas was getting bigger.

"Lucas, help me!"

Lucas burst forth into consciousness.

* * *

On the third try with the defribulator, the boy sat up and gasped. He breathed deeply and fell back on the bed. He looked around at the people in white coats in the room that smelled like disinfectant. The IV's yanked at his wrist painfully. For a while, him and the doctors just stared at each other. Then a nurse walked in with a brown peace of paper.

"Should I put 'died of natural causes' or 'died by disease'?" She said. When nobody answered her, she looked up. Lucas, the boy she had just seen die, was staring at her with his mouth hanging open.

"Never mind." The nurse squeaked.

* * *

A/N: Wow that was instense. So he does come back in the end. If you couldn't tell, or I messed up somehow, each time his friends spoke was supposed to be a shock from the defribulator. And somebody tell me how to spell that, because apparently it's wrong.


	5. Back to Normal, Maybe

Wow...I'm sorry, first I lost the story, then I just found it like a week ago. And so I felt that I should finish it for any of the people that actually read it. Last part.

* * *

It was the second day Lucas came back. And as it appeared, to both the science club and his physical therapist, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him. In fact, he seemed to actually be a little bit stronger and more confident than he was before. His friends joked that it was because of all the blood transfusions Vaughn had given him that Lucas had picked up a little bit of Vaughn's personality. But the jokes were half laughed at. The eggs hatched not long after, and it wasn't until they began to molt their baby feathers that Professor Z was able to tell what they were.

"They're called Red Fox Sparrows." He said. "Kind of Ironic if you think about recent events." He glanced at Lucas.

Lucas gave a half smile. "So now what going to happen to the little guys?"

"I'm going to turn them into a animal center. They have no mother, so it would be very hard for them to learn how to fly. But in captivity, they might probably never have to, and they will also live longer, and safer."

Nobody seemed to have a problem with that. They set it up to go to the center in a couple weeks. In that time, they decided to name them. They each split into two groups, and named them. Marshall and Lucas named theirs Skandi, after the Norse goddess of winter. Mostly because when all the other birds had a cinnamon brown under side with red spots, this bird had a white underside with light red spots. Vaughn and Professor Z named theirs Tobias. And finally, Josie and Corrine named theirs Randall. They thought it was cute, and laughed at the look Lucas gave them.

When they finally got taken to the animal shelter, they were all sad to seem them go.

"It seemed like they were only hatchlings several days ago." Marshall said in a teary voice.

"They were hatchlings several days ago." Josie said, rolling her eyes.

"And now they're all grown up and moving out of the nest; out into the big bad world." Marshall continued. Lucas elbowed him in the ribs and they both laughed.

All of them started walking up the steps to the school.

"Lucas," Professor Z pulled Lucas to the side. He waited until all the others were out of earshot. "It been a week and a half since you got out of the hospital. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine, other than that my head feels a little fuzzy every now and then." Lucas looked up at the professor.

"Really? Cause you know if anything doesn't seem normal, you should tell me right now." Z said, laying a caring hand on Lucas' shoulder. Lucas' eyes clouded for a split second. Suddenly Lucas furrowed his brow, an shoved Z's hand off.

"I said I'm fine! Okay?" Lucas turned away. "Will you lay off a little?"

Lucas ran up the steps inside. Professor Zachary stood there on the steps in front of the school. Was that normal? It was too early to tell, so he would just have to wait and see. Professor Z straightened his jacket and dusted off his shoulders. He had to hurry. There was a class he had to teach about how DNA is created. He couldn't wait.

* * *

A/N: Once again, last part. I know it's not much, but I'd lost interest in this show long ago. I'll try to finish my other ones. I did think about a sequel, but now I'm not sure ill have the heart. I don't know, anybody want to write a sequel themselves? If you do just let me know. Been a good run. Read, review and enjoy!


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